Chapter 69
Chapter 69
After Shen Yubi finished speaking, he turned off the machine in front of him. “Do you understand it now?”
“I do,” Chu Yue said.
“Good.” Shen Yubi stepped aside. “Give it a try.”
Chu Yue stood before the machine and mimicked Shen Yubi’s previous actions. It wasn’t actually that difficult.
“Not bad,” Shen Yubi noted. “Your level is currently too low; you haven’t met the criteria to register as a Mercenary yet. Once your level is higher, you can come back and register one if you want.”
“Mhm.” Chu Yue’s eyes curved as he nodded, though there wasn’t much warmth in his expression.
He likely wouldn’t become a Mercenary. To successfully reach Level 12, he would need to clear forty-eight Instances. He probably wouldn’t have the time to help others clear stages just to earn Points.
After returning from this Instance, he had discovered that his System was different from everyone else’s.
Although this System was dedicated to swindling him of his Points, he seemed to have the right to choose between returning to the Nightmare Trading Center or the Real World after clearing an Instance. He didn’t need to spend Points to buy a chance to return to the Real World like other Players.
If he ever ran low on Points in the future, he could just take a trip back to the Real World. He didn’t need to exchange Points for cash; instead, he could bring items from the Real World back here to resell. That wouldn’t be a bad way to make money.
Of course, that was a thought for later; he wasn’t considering it at the moment.
Just as he logged out of the account, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder.
“Hey, Shen, I finally caught you. Interested in taking a job from the Red List on the Mission Board? We enter the Instance in a week. A forty-sixty split-forty for me, sixty for you-how about it?”
Chu Yue turned around to find a tall man standing opposite him. He had rugged features and was dressed capably, though it was hard to tell if he was masking his true appearance.
Chu Yue was certain he didn’t know the man. Judging by the way the man addressed him, he was likely speaking to Shen Yubi.
With that thought, Chu Yue didn’t speak, looking toward Shen Yubi instead.
Meeting the eyes behind the mask, the man froze for a moment before following Chu Yue’s gaze to the side.
Observing the eyes beneath that black mask, he instantly realized he had identified the wrong person.
“My apologies.” He gave a hearty laugh. “Shen always used to wear that mask. I got you mixed up.”
He then looked at Shen Yubi. “Is this a friend of yours?”
Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “What do you think of the terms I just mentioned?”
His voice was a bit loud, drawing glances from people nearby.
Shen Yubi’s eyes remained devoid of emotion, and his voice was still cold through the mask. “The terms are decent, but I’m not taking it.”
“Why? We can negotiate the timing. We’ll go whenever you’re free lately. I can even be more generous-how about a thirty-seventy split? That’s the most I can offer.”
The man was unwilling to give up and increased the reward by another ten percent.
“I don’t have any time lately,” Shen Yubi said, refusing to budge.
Since he had declined so bluntly, the man lowered his head in disappointment. “That’s a shame. I guess we’ll have to wait until next time to cooperate.”
He said a few more things to Shen Yubi, but Chu Yue didn’t make a conscious effort to listen to their conversation.
He turned to scan the Hall.
Two large screens hung on the far wall. One displayed the words “Mercenary Ranking” in large characters, while the other showed the “Mercenary Guild Ranking.”
It wasn’t hard to understand. Many mobile games had guilds where people went on missions together for better safety and efficiency. Everyone helped each other out; in a horror game like this, it likely increased the survival rate.
He was standing a bit far away, so aside from the large headers, he couldn’t see the rankings below clearly. Chu Yue squinted, and once he was sure he couldn’t make them out, he withdrew his gaze.
The two men beside him finished their talk, and the man seemed to notice Chu Yue again.
He looked at Chu Yue and asked Shen Yubi, “A new friend? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Chu Yue gave a polite nod but didn’t speak. He was cautious; in front of these old-timers, a voice could reveal far too much.
“A friend of Wandao’s. Wandao didn’t have time, so I’m showing him around. Anything else?”
“No, I just came for that matter. Since Shen isn’t interested, I’ll just find someone else.” Having said that, he stepped aside.
Shen Yubi then led Chu Yue out.
Chu Yue glanced back at the man, catching his gaze. The playful glint in those eyes filled him with a sense of revulsion.
“Will this cause trouble for you?”
Chu Yue wasn’t stupid; Shen Yubi’s words earlier had clearly been an attempt to distance himself from him.
“No,” Shen Yubi replied. “At most, they’ll try to investigate your identity privately.”
However, the other party didn’t even know Shen Yubi’s true identity, let alone have a hope of tracing it back to Chu Yue.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been camping out for him in the Mercenary Hall.
Shen Yubi began leading Chu Yue out, but as they reached the entrance, Chu Yue pulled him back and pointed toward the Ranking List he had spotted earlier.
“Let’s go take a look over there.”
As soon as he spoke, he felt the person beside him stiffen. “There’s nothing worth seeing.”
“Let’s look anyway,” Chu Yue insisted.
Shen Yubi didn’t budge, so Chu Yue gave him a firm tug. “Come on.”
Standing before the massive screen, Chu Yue tilted his head back to examine the Ranking List.
The individual Ranking List displayed a total of ten names.
He scanned from the bottom up, and at the sixth spot, he saw a familiar name.
[6th Place: Jiang Jiu]
“Hmm?” Chu Yue was slightly surprised. Was this the same Jiang Jiu he knew?
After hearing Shen Yubi’s earlier comments, he had assumed Jiang Jiu was just another Player who focused on earning Points through business. He hadn’t expected her to be this formidable.
He continued looking up.
[3rd Place: Wandao]
[2nd Place: J]
[1st Place: Shen]
If these names had appeared in isolation, he might not have thought much of it.
But these two titles were appearing here together, and they had only just reached his ears moments ago.
It was hard not to make the connection.
“Is it you?” he whispered, tilting his head toward the man beside him.
Shen Yubi neither confirmed nor denied it.
Chu Yue understood then-the number one person on the Mercenary Ranking was indeed him.
In that case, the third place must be Guan Doujin.
Aside from him, Chu Yue couldn’t think of anyone else Shen Yubi would drag out to use as a shield.
Staring at the name hanging high at the top of the first row, Chu Yue couldn’t help but steal another glance at his companion.
There were so many Players in the game, including many who had been here since the ancient periods.
Yet Shen Yubi, who had only entered the game a little over a decade ago, held the top spot on the Ranking List.
He knew this was a debt he owed him-a debt he could never repay in his entire life.
Chu Yue didn’t press the matter, and Shen Yubi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing him look toward the other side, Shen Yubi began to softly explain the other list.
The Mercenary Guild Ranking List.
[1st Place: Paradise of Joy]
“Refined egoists. They have the most members.
“The members of this guild basically only care about Points. They don’t care about leveling up, only about earning. They’re regulars at the Entertainment Money Pit, and every one of them is wealthy. They advocate for a life of luxury and dissipation in this virtual city.
“Their founder is only a Level 6 Player, but he has survived more Instances than most Level 7 or 8 Players.”
[2nd Place: Chivalrous Journey]
“A gathering place for a bunch of chuunibyou teenagers,” Shen Yubi summarized in a single sentence.
“They’re fairly upright in their dealings. If you run into them in an Instance, you can try to ride their coattails. However, while they won’t kill indiscriminately, they won’t blindly save people either.”
[3rd Place: Eighteen Hells]
“You must remember the people in this guild well.
“They are a notorious presence within the Nightmare Trading Center. There are only eighteen of them, but every single one possesses skills. They call themselves Yama, and their methods are ruthless and cruel. Every one of them has a high body count; it’s essentially a gathering place for murderers. Once we get back, I’ll go over the details of each member with you.”
Chu Yue nodded, committing the information to memory.
A guild with only eighteen members that could still rank third spoke volumes about their strength.
[4th Place: Daily Gold Rush]
“Heh.”
Shen Yubi let out a short laugh before he even began to speak.
Chu Yue looked at him. The laugh wasn’t exactly mocking; it was more like he found it amusing.
This piqued Chu Yue’s curiosity. Judging by the name alone, it seemed to fit the personality of the Paradise of Joy members more than the top-ranked guild itself.